A group of Florida Republicans is calling on President Biden to allow the Navy to conduct maritime interdictions and intercept migrants fleeing Haiti amid unrest in the country.
Florida Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz, Gus Biliarakis, Anna Paulina Luna, and Daniel Webster all signed the letter The document was sent to Biden and asked him to declare that “mass migration of foreign nationals arriving on their way to or off the coasts of the United States is anticipated.”they referred to presidential order Signed by former President George W. Bush to address illegal immigration in the Caribbean.
“The proclamation pursuant to Executive Order 13276 is necessary to strengthen the State of Florida’s efforts to utilize Department of Defense vessels to conduct maritime interdiction and interception of aliens from Haiti and, if possible, return them to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “This is a limited financial obligation to the U.S. taxpayer,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also cited comments made by military officials at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, in which Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson called for “increased capacity” to deal with potential large-scale immigration. He said he requested.
“We request the commitment of the necessary personnel to conduct maritime interdiction and interception of Haitians,” the letter concludes.
Haiti has been in political turmoil for weeks, plagued by rampant gang violence and political instability. As the violence escalated, the United States called on all citizens to leave the country, began evacuating the U.S. embassy, and also sent in a group of Marines.
Lawmakers pointed to Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has already committed additional resources to the southern region to deal with potential migrants. Last week, he announced the deployment of more than 200 state law enforcement officers and about 50 additional National Guard troops to South Florida and the Keys, as well as more than a dozen aircraft and ships.
State officials announced last week that a boat carrying 25 Haitian immigrants was recently intercepted by police in Florida.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the National Security Council told The Hill that authorities are monitoring the situation and stressed that irregular migration through the Caribbean remains low. The spokesperson said authorities were still planning for contingencies and considering how they could deal with a potential increase in migrants.
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